Technology Infrastructure Install – Exit Reality Upper Midwest

Nothing To Everything Tech

An old client gave us a call this fall to check out a new commercial build in Lakeville, MN. The call started with “I am getting a large amount of solicitations about technology infrastructure. I don’t trust any of them but I trust Ipsity to get me the correct items for our new office.”

We headed down to check out the site to find an empty utility closet. We found over 50 cat. 6 cables laying on the floor and a wireless router purchased from Best Buy. The cables where one thing but a wireless router in a concrete closet in the back tells the story well.

After consulting to let the client know the bad news, they called the next day to let me know that a partner was closing it’s doors. They had to get out of their office and get rid of all their infrastructure technology that week. We headed over and found all the needed pieces at reasonable prices.

The Hardware

(1) network rack

(1) power over ethernet managed switch

(2) punch panels

(1) alternative power source with battery backup

(3) Aruba wifi mesh routers

The Install

We started mounting the rack and terminating the cable runs with the space. We terminated the front office first and moved the consumer router to the front of the building. This enabled the employees to function at a must faster internet speed while the project was progressing.

Termination of all the cables mounted to the rack was complete. We gave critical employees a speed test of the wireless speeds and the benefits of a wired connection. Double the speed and getting the benefits of what they pay for is important to demonstrate.

We mounted the switch and informed then that a VOIP phone system can be powered by this switch. They put the power adapter for eligible devices in a drawer and we ordered a Google Voice phone by Obihai. Outside of the phone cost, it is a free service with their Google G Suite account.

The switch also allowed us to power a mesh wireless network throughout the entire office space. The three Aruba’s work perfectly and allows access to any device to the same network throughout the entire office. This space was a hardware store previously so you can visualize how large of a space we needed to cover with wifi.

Wireless done, network cables at each workstation done and now we turn to routing. Most consumer electronics that you can buy at computer store will fail when adding 50+ devices. We love anything Cradlepoint so we added a MBR1400 to do the work of routing.

Second Network

Land Home Financial was coming in to rent 7 offices within the space in the spring. Their VOIP phones where using Skype for Business and our switch didn’t work well for those devices. We ordered another line from the ISP.

They shipped a Meraki by Cisco router and POE switch. We installed their router next to Exit Reality’s and mounted the Meraki below the existing switch. Land Home is running smooth next to Exit’s network with Land Home using wireless from the Aruba’s.

Thank you to Exit Reality Midwest and Land Home Financial for your trust and business! It was a fun project and fun to see them getting to work at an optimal speed. If you have a project like this one, please contact us today.

This office is the home of Exit Reality Upper Midwest, Insurance Advisers of MN and Land Home Financial of Lakeville, MN. After this project, I was sold on what Insurance Advisers was offering for homeowners insurance, business auto and general liability insurance. Ipsity has saved money on all three policies and we recommend them. Get more information about this great company by visiting their site.

From Land Home:

Thank you for helping us out. I will reach out if we need anything else. You’ve been really great.